LENR vs Solar/Wind, and emerging Green Technologies.

Quote from Dr Richard*

t 43% efficiency and is on the website of PhysOrg.com. I am having difficulties in copy/pasting with my new chrome-book, but just GOOGLE PhysOrg.com - new record of solar-panel efficiency which puts it about equal to photosynthesis by some forms of plant-life chlorophyll efficiency!

Photosynthesis is about 3 to 6% efficient. Perhaps you are thinking of the fraction of daylight that photosynthesis uses (PAR, photosynthetically active radiation). That is most colors other than green. It is 45% of daylight. In a food factory or laboratory, you can supply only PAR (mainly red light), and overall efficiency is greater, up to around 11%. But the sun always supplies the full spectrum, so efficiency is stuck at 3 to 6%.

See:

Photosynthetic Efficiency - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

Artificial Leaves: Towards Bio-Inspired Solar Energy Converters

K. Sudhakar, R. Mamat, in Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, 2019

Energy conversion and typical efficiencies in natural Photosynthesis (Krassen and Ott, 2011)

The thermodynamics of solar energy conversion has been discussed for many years and the real energy conversion figure is 9% (for the conversion into sugar) or even 28% (for the conversion into the natural fuel for the plant cells—ATP and NADPH). The photosynthetic efficiency is dependent on the wavelength of the light absorbed. Photosynthetically active radiation (400–700 nm) constitutes only 45% of the actual daylight. Therefore the maximum theoretical efficiency of the photosynthesis process is approximately 11%. In fact, in any case, plants don’t use all incoming sunlight (due to respiration, reflection, light inhibition and light saturation) and do not convert all harvested energy into biomass, which brings about a general photosynthetic proficiency of 3%–6% based on total solar radiation. (See Table 1.)

See also p. 132:

https://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/RothwellJcoldfusiona.pdf

Quote from Gregory Byron Goble

Wondering what interesting CMNS active

agents are in varieties of granite. Any nickel or lithium or whatnot? Turn these crystals into tiny nano embryonic pre crystal bits by turning it into obsidian in your backyard using a Fresnel lens and a bucket of ice water or a piece of white granite... Way cool.

Cold mill it in a hydrogen atmosphere perhaps... I have a bunch of Lapidolite from from the Harding Mine in New Mexico laying around somewhere. High lithium content.

I have different granites to get obsidian, maybe it's called something else, we need to see.

Note there is a difference between cell efficiencies and module efficiencies. You can find all the relevant data on the NREL website.

Fire Breaks out on World's First Cargo of Liquefied Hydrogen Ship, Australia - Hydrogen Central

Fire breaks out on world's first cargo of liquefied hydrogen ship, Australia. AN investigation is under way into a fire aboard the hydrogen

hydrogen-central.com

Fire breaks out on world’s first cargo of liquefied hydrogen ship, Australia.

AN investigation is under way into a fire aboard the hydrogen gas ship Suiso Frontier less than one day after arriving at Hastings.

A flame was spotted from the exhaust of a gas combustion unit on the ship’s deck after the ship had been loaded with a cargo of liquefied hydrogen.

The hydrogen engine will not work either, we need to study the planet Earth, the Earth already has a flying saucer, it remains to make it. A lot of material is coming out now along the core of the planet and it will be a plasma and ball lightning, the rotation of which gives energy to the planet itself. So do my installations and test all gases, oil, water, rocks and we will get new energy!!!!

https://www.h2-view.com/story/uk-government-unveils-new-energy-independence-strategy-doubling-low-carbon-hydrogen-production-to-10gw-by-2030/?

The UK Government has released new plans to raise domestic low-carbon hydrogen production from 5GW to 10GW by 2030 with half to be completely green.

Revealed as part of new plans to gain energy independence in light of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, targeting 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production could be crucial to scaling the UK’s hydrogen industry.

When the hydrogen strategy had been first released in August 2021, many in the industry argued the aims were not ambition enough and this should be raised to attract larger investment.

These new targets will now be welcomed by the UK hydrogen industry with the government recognised for actively supporting the scaling up of the clean energy carrier and its integration into society.

Quote from Daniel_G

Note there is a difference between cell efficiencies and module efficiencies.

What do you mean by "module"? A solar panel?

Where does NREL describe this?

Cookie Absent

Physics Today 75, 4, 22 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4978

Electric Vehicles won't break the grid.

Matteo Muratori, who leads a research team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is frustrated at social media posts warning that the rapid growth in electric vehicles will break the US electricity grid. The increase in electricity demand, or load, that will come as the US transportation system transforms to electric drive won’t be any different from what occurred when air conditioning began to be widely adopted, he says.

“Utilities are excited. Selling more electricity is their business,” Muratori says. “We build new industrial facilities, new hospitals, and new schools, and they make sure the electricity is there to support those needs.” To balance supply with demand, the grid evolves on a daily basis as new load is added.

Michael Kintner-Meyer, an electrical engineer who leads mobility research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, agrees. “The lights will not go out,” he says, and there isn’t a tipping point that will overwhelm the grid.

There’s no doubt that substantial growth in load will come from a wholesale conversion to electric vehicles (EVs) as the US, and the rest of the world, decarbonizes its transportation systems. Daniel Bowermaster, head of the electric vehicle research program at the Electric Power Research Institute, says US electricity demand would suddenly leap 25% if the nation’s entire 290 million cars and trucks were converted to electric drive.

Quote from Alan Smith

Daniel Bowermaster, head of the electric vehicle research program at the Electric Power Research Institute, says US electricity demand would suddenly leap 25% if the nation’s entire 290 million cars and trucks were converted to electric drive.

Perhaps that is true, but as I have pointed out several times, nearly all of that 25% would come at night, when there is abundant spare capacity. So, no additional generators or distribution network would be needed. More fuel would be burned in combustion generator plants.

I think 25% is a little high. I think some other estimates put it lower. I estimated that the average American household with 1.8 automobiles would have to recharge at 7.2 kW for 2 hours a night. That 14 kWh per day, or 420 kWh per month. (I think that is an over-estimate.) The average house uses 893 kWh per month. So, that would be about ~50% of residential power consumption. Residential is approximately 40% of electric power (see "U.S. energy consumption by source and sector 2020," in the second link below.) So that's closer to 20%.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

U.S. energy facts explained - consumption and production - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Waste to Energy.

Researchers have achieved a nearly 30% jump in the efficiency of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV), which converts photons emitted by a heat source to electricity. The work gives a major boost to efforts to roll out thermal batteries as a backup for renewable power systems. The idea is to feed surplus wind or solar electricity to a heating element, and then use TVPs to convert the heat into electricity. “This is very exciting stuff,” says materials engineer Andrej Lenert. “This is the first time [TPVs have] gotten into really promising efficiency ranges, which is ultimately what matters for a lot of applications.”

Science | 5 min read

Quote from Alan Smith

Researchers have achieved a nearly 30% jump in the efficiency of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV), which converts photons emitted by a heat source to electricity.

Science | 5 min read

Thanks Alan for the interesting info.

Could be a great combination with LENR!

It's true that photovoltaic cells are making constant progress JedRothwell should be happy.

However, today all the main countries of the world will continue to invest massively in nuclear power plants, in relation to climatic and now geostrategic issues.

It reminds me of a time when cars were pulled by horses. The programmed future of specialists at the time was steam to replace these horses. We had reached a technological turning point one century ago, we were even talking about electricity to tow these cars when Elon Musk's grandfather was perhaps not even born. However, it was a challenger who won the game, the famous oil. Today, it's the same, it's not said that solar cannot pass nuclear. There is also the solar coming from space and sent back to earth by radiations.

Quote from Alan Smith

Researchers have achieved a nearly 30% jump in the efficiency of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV), which converts photons emitted by a heat source to electricity. The work gives a major boost to efforts to roll out thermal batteries as a backup for renewable power systems. The idea is to feed surplus wind or solar electricity to a heating element, and then use TVPs to convert the heat into electricity. “This is very exciting stuff,” says materials engineer Andrej Lenert. “This is the first time [TPVs have] gotten into really promising efficiency ranges, which is ultimately what matters for a lot of applications.”

Science | 5 min read

But the technology now exists to engineer photovoltaics over the whole range of electro-magnetic radiation from very long wavelengths (gravitational waves with the wave-length of light-years) to the shortest of wavelengths (X-rays and gamma rays in Cosmic radiation). So it would be rather inefficient to just concentrate on heat alone in the infra-red region narrow band.

Quote from Dr Richard*

But the technology now exists to engineer photovoltaics over the whole range of electro-magnetic radiation from very long wavelengths

Technology is one thing: Cost of production the other. So forget these hetero junction solar cells. They just fill a niche.

The cheapest technology on the horizon are perowskit solar cells that you can print on simple glass. Here durability still is an issue but now fast improving. This originally is one more Swiss invention.

Were you talking about perovskite crystals, the ones that cause piezoelectric effects ?

Quote from Wyttenbach

Technology is one thing: Cost of production the other. So forget these hetero junction solar cells. They just fill a niche.

The cheapest technology on the horizon are pervoskit solar cells that you can print on simple glass. Here durability still is an issue but now fast improving. This originally is one more Swiss invention.

Quote from Cydonia

Were you talking about perovskite crystals, t

Quantum dots boost perovskite solar cell efficiency and scalability

Scientists at EPFL have boosted the efficiency and scalability of perovskite solar cells by replacing their electron-transport layers with a thin layer of…

actu.epfl.ch

By using the quantum dot layer, the researchers found that perovskite solar cells of 0.08 square centimeters attained a record power-conversion efficiency of 25.7% (certified 25.4%) and high operational stability, while facilitating the scale-up. When increasing the surface area of the solar cells to 1, 20, and 64 square centimeters, power-conversion efficiency measured at 23.3, 21.7, and 20.6% respectively.